How to Improve Mobile App Retention (for Web-First Brands)

So you’ve launched your mobile app. Great. Even better, you’ve managed to convince users to download it - maybe with an incentive like a 10% discount or app-only features and product drops. 

But here’s the reality check: that download doesn’t mean much unless the user sticks around.

Most people have over 40 apps installed on their phone. The majority rarely use more than a handful. If your app doesn’t become a habit, it’ll be forgotten. Or worse, deleted.

With mobile apps, success isn’t about how many downloads you get. A mobile app is a long-term play. The key is how many of those downloads turn into regular users.

At MobiLoud, we’ve helped more than 2,000 companies launch mobile apps. We’ve been in the trenches, we’ve seen launches that set off fireworks, but that struggle to get over the hump of long-term user retention. And we’ve helped brands overcome the common problems that lead to mobile app user churn.

With that experience, we’ve crafted this guide to help you not just launch a mobile app, but launch a mobile app that keeps your customers consistently engaged. Interested? Keep reading for more!

Want to discuss how we can work with you to not only launch the perfect app, but craft an engagement strategy that makes users stick around? Get in touch now and book a free consultation.

9 Things to Know to Maximize Mobile App User Retention

One of the objections we often get from brands considering building an app is, ‘will people actually use my app?’

It’s certainly a valid question, especially when your mobile website likely already provides a great user experience, and you might be wondering if it’s really worth it to launch an app.

The answer to the earlier question is yes - people will use your app. But you need to give them a helping hand.

Here’s how successful brands, in verticals such as ecommerce, SaaS, media, communities and more, launch mobile apps that maintain solid long-term retention rates.

1. Understand App Retention Benchmarks

Before you try to improve retention, it helps to understand what’s ‘normal’. 

Here are some of the latest benchmarks:

Day 1 Retention (the day after install):

• Ecommerce: ~20% (iOS), ~17% (Android)
• Media: ~18% (iOS), ~17% (Android)
• SaaS-like apps (e.g. Fintech): ~22% (iOS), ~17% (Android)

Day 7 Retention (one week later):

• Most apps drop to 8–12%
• Ecommerce: ~10%
• Media: ~8%
• Finance: ~12–15%

Day 30 Retention (one month later):

• Ecommerce: ~5% (iOS), ~4% (Android)
• Media: ~5–9%
• Anything above 10% is excellent
• Most apps lose over 90% of new users by Day 90

These numbers can make mobile app retention sound like a losing battle. But the truth is, most brands simply do a poor job of driving long-term retention.

They launch an app without a clear plan, use cheap app builders that produce clunky or unreliable user experiences, or fail to properly maintain and improve the app over time.

When done right, with the right strategy and execution, you can keep a much higher share of your app users engaging with the app.

Well-built, well-promoted ecommerce apps can retain 80-90% of their users long-term. If you can do this, you’ll be well ahead of the curve.

2. Make the First Impression Count: Onboarding & Activation

Onboarding is your best opportunity to turn a download into a regular user. It’s the moment when the user is most curious, most interested, and has the fewest objections. 

Don’t waste that attention.

Make it easy to log in, especially for users coming from your website. Then craft an onboarding experience that immediately gets users engaging with the app.

Provide a quick, clear tour of how to get value from the app, and highlight what’s different or better in the app experience. Make sure it’s easy to get around, and that key parts of the app (search or product categories for ecommerce apps, content preferences for news apps) are easy to find.

This is also your best shot at maximizing opt-in rates for push notifications. Get this part right, and you’re setting the foundation for habit formation.

3. Ensure a Seamless, Frictionless UX

Bad UX is one of the most common (and most preventable) reasons users churn.

• Make sure users stay signed in (users will stop using if they need to keep re-entering their login details).
• Eliminate bugs and performance issues that frustrate users.
• Simplify navigation so users can get what they want quickly.

If you’re having retention problems, UX is the first place you should look. If it sucks to use, if it’s more confusing or less intuitive than your website, no one’s going to use your app.

This is a big reason why it’s a mistake to build your app with cheap, DIY app builders. The user experience is unlikely to measure up to your website, and you’ll often have to drop key features or integrations that you use on your site, due to issues integrating them into your app.

You might succeed in getting an app live for just a couple of hundred dollars, but it ultimately means nothing if it’s a downgrade from your website.

Related: App Builders vs Managed Mobile App Services: What’s Really More Affordable?

4. Use Push Notifications to Keep Users Coming Back

Push notifications are one of the most powerful tools for driving retention, when used well.

Most users don’t stop using your app because they dislike it. They stop because they forget about it. 

Push helps you stay top-of-mind, build usage habits, and drive re-engagement. While overuse of push notifications can lead to churn, more retention problems are due to brands underusing push notifications.

They think, ‘once someone’s downloaded my app, of course they’re going to use it.’

Well, most of us have multiple screens of apps on our phone. Your user probably has 50+ apps downloaded. A lot of those are apps they thought were interesting, so they downloaded it, just to forget about it.

The best brands use regular push notifications so users don’t forget about them, and slowly make their app feel indispensable.

• For ecommerce, promote app-only drops, abandoned cart reminders, and loyalty incentives.
• Media brands can send breaking news alerts or trending articles.
• SaaS apps might use push for relevant updates or feature tips.

You don’t even need to be aiming for a conversion every time. Simple, non-intrusive push notifications provide value just by capturing a small amount of mindshare.

Simple reminders of relevant products, or even motivational messages with zero promotional intent can be enough to stop the user from forgetting about you - which is a death sentence for mobile apps.

The key is to be positive and non-intrusive, so your users are happy to receive your app’s notifications, not annoyed.

Do this, and you can even send daily notifications without causing users to delete the app.

Learn more: What's the Optimal Sending Frequency for Ecommerce Push Notifications?

5. Give Users a Reason to Keep Using the App

Think - why should someone keep your app installed?

The answer doesn’t need to be groundbreaking. You don’t necessarily need flashy, bloated features in the app. Just make it slightly more valuable or convenient than your mobile website.

• App-only benefits: early access, exclusive content, saved preferences.
• Easy order tracking via push notifications.
• Loyalty points or rewards programs.
• More personalized experiences and persistent login.
• Exclusive product drops or promotions (for ecommerce apps).
• Custom content feeds or saved lists (for media apps).

If you have none of this, you’ll get some people - those most protective of their mobile phone’s storage space - who question why they’ve got the app when they can just use the website.

Even if your app is just your website packaged into a native container, you can still provide value to regular users by offering faster launching (via a home screen icon) and more convenient, mobile-native navigation.

But ideally, take it a step further with small app-exclusive features, like early access product drops, that make it a no-brainer for your customers to keep the app on their phone.

And don’t just offer these features - promote them. Make sure the user knows what they’re getting with the app, and why it’s an upgrade.

6. Reinforce App Usage Through Deep Linking

Once someone installs the app, guide them back to it consistently. 

Use deep links whenever you link to your site from email, SMS, and anywhere on the web (including your socials). Deep links are links that automatically open in the app, if the user has the app installed.

For example, download the Amazon app, then click an Amazon link. You’ll notice it opens the app - not the website.

This is crucial if you’re using other channels to drive repeat visits. You want to build a habit of using your app, rather than your website.

The more your users interact with your brand inside the app, the more likely they are to build the habit of using it. But if they keep getting sent back to the website, they might end up forgetting they ever had the app installed.

7. Re-Engage Lapsed Users

You can re-capture a lot of users who stopped using the app (or even deleted it).

Ideally, capture app users before they churn. Identify common churn points (like Day 7, 14, or 21) and set up re-engagement campaigns to get them to come back to the app.

Push is good for this - though you might also use email or SMS (as inactive users may have tuned out or disabled push).

Trigger nudges based on user behavior (or inactivity), and use incentives or reminders that feel relevant to their past actions. 

If someone hasn’t used the app in a while, but they still have it downloaded, they probably don’t hate it. They just need a nudge.

8. Learn from Your Users

You don’t have to guess why users are churning. Ask them. 

Use in-app surveys or feedback prompts, and monitor reviews and ratings for recurring issues. Talk to your most loyal users to find out what’s working and what could be improved.

Then act on what you learn. The best retention strategies are built with your users, not just for them.

9. Target the Right Users

Your app isn’t for everyone - and that’s okay. 

Realistically, your app is for your top customer segments; your most loyal, engaged customers.

A mobile app can nurture customers into joining these segments, but it’s not going to turn all your one-time shoppers into super fans, and some people are going to download the app, use it once or twice, and decide that it’s not worth their storage space.

If you have high churn rates or low engagement rates, it may be that you’re attracting a lot of non-ideal users. It’s not necessarily a bad thing if these people download (and subsequently delete) your app. But make sure you optimize for your top users.

It can be a big win for you even if only 10-15% of your customers use the app. Focus on making it a hub for VIPs - not using it to try and replace your website.

Related: Launching your app? Get everything you need to know to craft a successful launch with our step-by-step Mobile App Launch Playbook.

Case Study: What We Can Learn About Mobile App Retention from Shein and Temu

Shein and Temu have set a new standard for mobile app retention by transforming shopping into a habit-forming, entertainment-driven experience. Their apps aren’t just for buying - they’re designed for daily engagement.

Both brands use interactive elements like daily check-ins, spin-to-win games, and referral rewards to keep users coming back.

They also leverage aggressive push notification strategies. Users receive frequent, compelling messages that highlight flash sales, expiring offers, or cart reminders, helping the brand stay top-of-mind and driving urgency-driven re-engagement.

The apps also blur the lines between ecommerce and social platforms. Personalized feeds with infinite scroll make browsing addictive, and features like group buying or shared rewards tap into social behavior. 

The result: users check the app as casually as they’d open Instagram or TikTok.

While not every brand can or should copy Shein and Temu wholesale, you can borrow key principles to boost user retention in your app. You’ll see how an exciting, habit-forming user experience plays a huge part in making the app a fixture in the user’s life.

Final Thoughts: Retention Is About Engagement

At the end of the day, retention is really just about engagement.

If your users regularly engage with the app - opening it, scrolling around, reading content, looking at products - they’re going to keep it installed. And, eventually, they’ll buy through the app.

Your mobile app doesn’t need to have a bunch of flashy features. For regular users, it’s always going to be more convenient to use the app than to load up the browser and go to your website, even if what’s served to them is basically just a repackaged version of the website.

Your primary job is to make sure the app isn’t less convenient than the website (by being buggy, confusing, or missing key features from your website because they’re not supported by your app provider).

Once you’ve checked this box, start building a usage habit, through easy to follow onboarding and regular push notifications, to make opening the app a regular part of your users’ day.

This is how brands launch mobile apps that add money to their bottom line.

Want our help? MobiLoud helps web-first brands turn their websites into mobile apps, for a low upfront cost, minimal ongoing costs, with zero effort required from you to build and maintain.

We also support you with your app launch strategy, and ongoing engagement via push notifications. Unlike other no-code solutions, we don’t just hand you an app and ask you to run with it. We help ensure your app is a success.

Get a free preview of your app now to learn more - and start the process of launching a powerful new asset for your brand.